March 10th, 2019
By Phyllis Hanlon
The Connecticut Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) published a report citing several areas needing significant improvement after examining conditions at juvenile centers in Bridgeport and Hartford. The centers are operated by the Court Support Services Division (CSSD). The report also included data collected from the Manson Youth Institution for Boys and York Correctional Institute for Girls, which fall under the purview of the Department of Corrections (DOC). The investigation reviewed data from July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017 and was released in January 2019. Mickey Kramer, MS, RN, associate child advocate, explained that the Connecticut legislature mandated the [More]
Tags: Connecticut, juvenile centers, Connecticut Office of the Child Advocate, mental health evaluations, educational opportunities
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March 9th, 2019
By Margarita Tartakovsky, MS
Like many states, Vermont is in dire need of mental health reform. Sarah Squirrell, Vermont’s newest mental health commissioner, said there are no easy answers to the complex challenges. However, Squirrell welcomes the opportunity to address these issues, which, she said, require collaboration, innovation, and commitment. “Our communities and service delivery systems must commit to work together to advance solutions to improve the care of individuals with mental health needs, and to always keep the needs of those we serve and their families at the center of our work,” Squirrell said. “Sometimes we think our best way to serve the [More]
Tags: Vermont, emergency rooms, mental health commissioner, Sarah Squirrell, lack of beds, mental health crises, chronic mental health problems
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March 9th, 2019
By John Grohol, Psy.D.
There may have been a time in the not-too-distant past when the guild mentality that infects clinical psychology as a profession served a purpose. Not only did it emphasize psychologist’s greater training and educational requirements, but it helped to differentiate the profession from others that provided similar services (such as psychotherapy). But the guild mentality comes with heavy licensing requirements and continuing education quotas that don’t seem to make as much sense as they once did. The heavy burden of our profession’s licensing requirements has a real-world impact in psychologist’s lives and professional career trajectories. Want to move your family [More]
Tags: psychologist licensing, Dr. John Grohol, guild mentality, professional references, licensing requirements, barriers, state boundaries, policy makers
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March 8th, 2019
By New England Psychologist Staff
To the Editor, We appreciate your raising the issue of compensation to Massachusetts psychologists and its direct impact on behavioral health and substance use services in your recent editorial (December, 2018). Restricted access to mental health treatment for Massachusetts residents has been central to the advocacy efforts of the Massachusetts Psychological Association (MPA) for many years. The stagnant third-party payor reimbursement to psychologists is a key contributor to this problem and in direct opposition to the surge of unmet behavioral health treatment needs. This concern was highlighted by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office Examination of Health Care Cost Trends and [More]
Tags: letter to the editor, Massachusetts psychologists, compensation, pay, behavioral health impact, reimbursement to psychologists, substance use services
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March 8th, 2019
By Catherine Robertson Souter
Shuttering a psychological practice is not a step to be taken lightly. It’s not like one can simply hang a “Closed” sign on the door and turn off the lights. In reality, there are many issues to be taken into consideration, including the ethical, legal, financial, and practical aspects of ending relationships with patients, colleagues, insurance companies, and even with landlords and other vendors. Then there is the question of what comes next, both personally and for your business. Should it be closed or sold? How do you help patients finish their therapy or move on to another therapist? Can [More]
Tags: psychologist, closing a practice, ethical, legal, financial, practical, ending a patient relationship, client
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March 8th, 2019
By Phyllis Hanlon
Unlike other niche areas, political psychology eludes precise definition. Rather, the practice could probably best be described as a smorgasbord of disciplines that includes anthropology, psychology, sociology, economics, communications, and political science. And within the realm of political psychology, practitioners engage in a wide range of research projects, depending on their particular interests. The terrorist attacks on 9/11 proved to be influential in steering Elizabeth Nugent, Ph.D, assistant professor in the department of political science at Yale University, into this career path as she became more aware of the political and psychological implications resulting from trauma. As a student at [More]
Tags: violence, traumatic events, Elizabeth Nugent Ph.D, Johanna Vollhardt Ph.D, Rose McDermott Ph.D, Political Psychology, group identity, victimization, oppression, experimental social psychologist
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March 8th, 2019
By Janine Weisman
It took the American Psychological Association (APA) 13 years to issue professional practice guidelines for clinical psychologists who work with a demographic badly in need of care and attention. It’s a subpopulation with higher rates of substance abuse, death by suicide, disciplinary action and school suspensions, learning disabilities and behavioral disturbances, and problems with family relationships. Drawing on 40 years of research, the new “APA Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Boys and Men” were finally adopted at the association’s annual meeting in San Francisco in August 2018. They are the latest in a series of APA guidelines for psychological practice [More]
Tags: substance abuse, APA, death by suicide, disciplinary action, school suspensions, learning disabilities and behavioral disturbances, family relationship issues, guidelines for boys, guidelines for men, male aggression
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January 7th, 2019
By Catherine Robertson Souter
Realizing that more must be done to reach out to children who have witnessed traumatic events, representatives from several agencies joined in Manchester NH to craft a unique outreach program. Launched two years ago, ACERT, or the Adverse Childhood Experiences Response Team, has experienced some amazing results. Several times each week, a member of the Manchester Police Department, a crisis service advocate from the Manchester YWCA and a community health worker from the Manchester Community Health Center (MCHC) head out to knock on doors of homes where children were exposed to trauma. The plan, said program founding partner Lara Quiroga, [More]
Tags: children, trauma, sexual assault, New Hampshire, suicide, drug use, traumatic events, ACERT, domestic incidents, overdose
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January 5th, 2019
By John Grohol, Psy.D.
Psychologists in Massachusetts are letting down their fellow citizens, as more and more clinical psychologists refuse to accept traditional health insurance for payment. In an in-depth article in the Oct. 21, 2018 issue of the Boston Globe, Liz Kowalczyk details the challenges citizens in Massachusetts face in getting psychological care through their insurance provider or through the government’s Medicaid program. The typical finger-pointing ensues in the article, with insurance companies and Medicaid claiming they are paying market rates ($72 for a 45-minute session) while trying to cut back on burdensome paperwork costs. Psychologists and other therapists claim it’s still not [More]
Tags: psychologists, Mental health, Medicaid, payment, health insurance, psychological care, insurance provider, Massachusetts Psychological Association
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January 5th, 2019
By Phyllis Hanlon
Television shows give the impression that forensics involves allure and excitement while specially trained professionals unravel subtle clues to track down serial killers. But those who are in the field of forensic psychology tell a different story. Shannon Bader, Ph.D, ABPP, chief of forensic evaluations for the state of New Hampshire, dismissed the notion of “glamour” in relation to forensic psychology; rather she noted that she occasionally gives testimony in court, but spends a significant amount of time reading, interviewing, and writing reports. Bader said that her religious background, in part, led her to this particular field where prisoners and [More]
Tags: mental illness, Forensic psychologists, psychological science, criminal court, Shannon Bader, prisoners, psychological assessment, trauma psychology
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